This figure contrasts with the 1.25mbpd recorded in June.

The latest production data poses a notable challenge to the government’s ambitions, given its target of achieving 1.69 million barrels per day in the 2023 budget.

Furthermore, Nigeria’s production volume falls significantly short of the 1.7 million barrels per day production quota assigned to the country by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Breaking down the data, NUPRC’s report highlighted that blended and unblended condensate oil daily productions for July were 38,258 barrels and 174,509 barrels, respectively.

It’s important to note that condensate oil production is not subject to Nigeria’s OPEC production obligations.

When considering the entirety of the data released by NUPRC, the average daily oil production for July was 1.29 million barrels per day, signifying a 12.8% reduction compared to the 1.48 million barrels daily average in June.

NNPC Limited, in its projection, aims to elevate oil production to 1.8 million barrels per day by the fourth quarter of this year. Measures undertaken to enhance production are anticipated to yield positive outcomes.

During a session at the Nigeria Oil Gas Energy Week, Engr. Adokiye Tombomieye, the Executive Vice President of Upstream at NNPC Limited, shared these insights.

The initial target is to reach the 1.7mbpd mark by the end of the third quarter.

Tombomieye elaborated on the strategies to achieve these goals, emphasizing asset integrity, production scale-up, well interventions, new drillings, alternative crude oil evacuation, and enhanced security measures.

Tombomieye further outlined specific initiatives, such as the resumption of production in challenged areas and developments in various oil fields, to contribute to the increased output.

Tombomieye emphasized the potential in the deepwater sector and mentioned key projects, including the Bonga North field, that would significantly boost national production. He underlined the importance of creating a favorable investment environment and highlighted how NNPC Limited’s restructured framework fosters equity for investors.

Speaking during a session at the ongoing 2022 Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, the Managing Director, TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Mike Sangster, said efforts by operators were being increased to reduce carbon emissions from gas flaring.

He, however, stated that the adoption of penalties to address the concern was not an answer, stressing the international oil company, as well as others, had developed programmes to manage the situation. Sangster said, “I don’t think penalties are the answer to reducing gas flaring. Likewise, we have a very active programme at the company to reduce carbon footprint.

“So every month we are looking at our fuel gas consumption, we are looking at emissions, and also looking at ideas and ways that we can drive down on carbon emissions. Therefore I don’t think penalties are the way to go.”

The TotalEnergies boss stated that oil firms should be encouraged to move towards more gas production for the indigenous market and for export.

Sangster said, “I think we have to make good business sense and I agree to the transition towards more gas development. We will maximise our oil production for sure, but I think we all want to move towards more gas for the domestic market and also for export.

“So anything that can be done to facilitate the demand for gas is encouraging. And I know there is an idea to move at some point towards a willing-buyer willing-seller model in the PIA.”

The Group Chief Executive Officer, Vurin Group, an oil and gas firm, Victor Ude, stated that aside from boosting gas production in Nigeria, the decade of gas declaration by government in 2020 was also aimed at reducing gas flaring.

He said operators in the sector had keyed into the declaration and were making efforts to cut down on flared gas, adding that some level of progress had been made in this direction.

Ude said, “The government has declared the decade of gas and gas is a transition fuel. So this gives us the opportunity by way of regulation and policy to accept the complimentary efforts of gas as well as the supplantation of gas in terms of fossil fuels and the decarbonisation as we know today.

“That in itself is progress but it needs to be sustained and beyond sustenance we also need to invest in other sources such as renewables. The government needs to look in this direction. Certain policies are enshrined in the PIA and they will help in development for much more progress.”

On his part, the Chief Executive, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Gbenga Komolafe, explained that to safeguard the environment, the Federal Government through the PIA had recommended that penalties from gas flaring be utilised for the purpose of environmental remediation and relief to host communities.

This, he said, was provided under Sections 52 (7d), 104 (4) of the Petroleum Industry Act.

Komolafe said the whole intent of the Act was to ensure that the commission was fully equipped statutorily to discharge on its mandates.

“It is gratifying that the commission has effectively been deploying its statutory powers within the PIA environment to ensure an effective and predictable regulatory environment in the sector,” the NUPRC boss stated.

President Muhammadu Buhari, according to the agency will preside over the launching virtually.

This was disclosed in a statement on Monday by the Head, Public Affairs of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr Paul Osu in Lagos.

The statement quoting the Director of DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, the chief host of the event, as saying that the centre would afford the oil and gas industry the critical elements for competitive advantage, in a changing global energy landscape.

“The integrated centre will also entrench Nigeria’s status as a regional leader and position the nation for significant global impact in the provision of value-added services and breakthrough solutions for the industry in years and decades to come,” he said.

According to him, the centre was structured to drive the three-pronged objectives of safety, value and cost efficiency, which are critical for oil and gas industry stability, growth and sustainability.

The DPR boss also said that the NOGEC complex was structured to house various flagship centres, including Search, Rescue and Surveillance (SeRAS) Command and Control Centre and National improved Oil Recovery Centre (NIORC), in order to comprehensively cover all the key areas of the industry.

Other centres are the Oil and Gas Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC) , Oil and Gas Competence Development Centre (CDC) and Integrated Data Mining and Analytics Centre (IDMAC).

Auwalu said, “SeRAS is an industry-wide programme established to enhance safety management, emergency preparedness and response, as well as bed space management and logistics services across the industry.

“The SeRAS Command and Control Centre (CCC), established at the NOGEC Centre, Lagos, will entrench safe practices, drive cost reduction and improve operational efficiency across the industry.

“Two other Rescue Coordination Centres (RCC) will be set up at Osubi and Brass, in the first instance, for effective coverage of all areas of operations,” he said.